Being the service leader officially for the first half of the semester was a daunting task at the beginning. Personally, I love being involved in my service Hope for Kids, and especially when we were working with kids as I was rather interested in how my experience would be. A lot can come out of being in service for almost two years, both rewarding and something to grow on. Unfortunately, I could not be in attendance for the duration of the sessions due to a conflicting schedule due to various other things that I had going on. This was the biggest conflict I saw for myself. I had to choose whether to go into other things or to stay and fully participate in our activities. I do believe that experiencing these conflicts I was able to see ethics applied, rather than understanding them. I did not expect there to be any surprises. I figured if Luca and I, as the service leaders, had the semester to plan how the day would go, the semester would run very smoothly. Of course, there will be obstacles, but for the most part, it turned out how I imagined.

Our work as a service group is mainly to keep company and provide friendship to children diagnosed with cancer at the CCC house in the Maharagama cancer hospital and we would organise things themed around a holiday coming up. The most notable event we did this semester is the Christmas gift-giving similar to last year, Keeping on with the tradition. And In this time as I was handing a present to one of the children into there rooms, I had a lifechanging moment. As I peered into the room, my heart nearly skipped a beat. Helplessly propped by pillows lay a child I recognised from activities we had done together, Kasun. The smile and chatter of a ten-year-old boy were drowned by my realisation of mortality. I observed his skin discolouration and immobility. For the first time in my life, I felt helpless.

This experience has brought out more in me than I could ever imagine. I have learned to care by feeling empathy for someone rather than sympathy. I have also seen how quickly a young life can be taken away. Doing this service and this being my first encounter with the critical nature of a cancer patients condition left me saddened and shaken. However, this was only the beginning of my experience with children at the CCC house.  My original intentions were to spend the length of a Thursday afternoon at the hospital until I can graduate and get it over with, but I don’t find myself thinking that nowadays. Although this time often leaves me exhausted mentally and physically, I always leave with a sense of fulfilment. Now I know this is something that I will continue this no matter which part of the world I’m in as Cancer is a global issue that people always need a helping hand with.